The Pain of Fractured Bonds
by CrazyNinjaPenguin
Summary: While on a mission with Sakura, Ino comes face to face with memories of the past, and in facing peril together the two friends begin to work toward a new and altogether different understanding. Ino X Sakura Yuri. Complete
1. Bonds of Friendship

A/N: Ino X Sakura, the premiere pairing of Naruto yuri. I've been writing Naruto yuri for well over a year now yet have until now never taken it on. It's such a great pairing and so obvious and there that I've actually touched on it quite a bit in the past; in Light and Shadow of Loneliness even though Sakura ends up with Tenten she comes first to the conclusion that Ino was her first love. In Guiding Light, Tsunade makes a comment to Sakura about how her and Ino's friendship was close to real love. In Truth in Flowers Ino casually remarks to Temari in regards to Sakura that she's "tried for that one". And then in my Strength Requisite of Lovers, I approached the subject directly, giving Ino the character of being almost obsessively in love with Sakura. Of course in that story Ino ends up with Hinata, but it still got a lot of people to asking why I just didn't go out and actually write some Ino X Sakura, and to tell the truth I didn't ever have a good answer. So here you go, I'm kinda scared in attempting a pairing I hold at this high a regard, but here's hoping it turns out good. Oh and in case your incredibly slow this is yuri, they're both girls they will end up romantically and sexually involved with each other, please don't read it if you're not into this sort of thing.

Disclaimer: Waffleman is my savior (and I do not own Naruto).

It was a clear bright day in the village of Konoha; a beaming smile shone on the face of a young child as she raced home in high spirits. As she walked this child's eyes caught sight of a familiar face; an older girl rested peacefully in the shadow of an old tree.

"Azami! Azami! Hi!" The child shouted energetically, her short blonde hair reflected the brightness of the spring sun.

"Heya little Ino, you sure seem happy. You have a good day today." The girl known as Azami said with a cool air that seemed unnatural for only fifteen years of life.

"Yeah! We were doing flower arrangements in class today so of course my teacher was really happy with me. Some of the other girls were mean to Sakura but I showed them who's boss. I helped her with the flowers too! She even said I was cute." The excited young girl recounted her day.

"Sakura? That's the girl you told me about before, right? The one you gave the ribbon to." Azami asked nonchalantly as she got to her feet and rest one of her hands on the child's head. Though Azami was only of average height she looked huge next to the younger Ino.

"Yup! Sakura Haruno is my best friend in the whole entire world!" Ino exclaimed with a wide open grin.

Azami cocked her head forward as she gave a judgmental sigh, with hints of melancholy she said, "As I see it friends really aren't much use to us in the end. You'd be better off finding you a man."

"I don't believe that. Being Sakura's friend makes me happy. Besides I'm too young for that sort of thing, Azami." Ino said in a pout, vigorously shaking the girl's hand off the top of her head.

"Ha you're not too young! In less than five years you'll be a ninja yourself, Ino!" Azami fought back. In a proud tone she added, "Take it from someone who's already a woman, already a ninja that friends end up getting you nothing while a man will be there for you."

"Friends are important! I mean you're my friend Azami and I always thought you were mine." Ino protested fiercely.

"Of course you are Ino! You know you're my favorite cousin in the whole world. But what good does that do me? As I see it, I get no benefit out of even knowing you." Azami said in a soft voice as she combed a hand through her mid-cut, burnt-orange hair.

"I can do lot's of stuff! I'm like the top rated kunoichi-in-training in like my whole class." Ino said boastfully.

Azami only smiled at Ino's words as she ignored them, in a somber way she returned to her prior advise, "Just try and focus less on this Sakura and more on keeping an eye open and looking at the guys in you class. I'm sure at least one of them you'll find interesting."

"I guess I'll try and at least look." Ino acquiesced with an aggravated sigh.

"That's it. Believe me; looking back on everything, you'll be thanking me, Ino." Azami smiled as she said this while once more patting her young cousin on the head.

Things had changed since then. Ino was a young woman, and she was also a full fledged kunoichi for three years now. Her hair though just as blonde was quite a bit longer now and she was a lot taller. Azami had left the village since then, but the biggest change was with Sakura.

Ino could now only with much reluctance say that Sakura Haruno was her best friend in the entire world. She had taken Azami's advice of that day and had developed an interest in a boy named Sasuke Uchiha. As luck would have it Sakura shortly thereafter had developed feelings for this same boy. Their friendship had disintegrated in an instant.

Sakura had broken their bond, declaring herself Ino's rival, declaring that she would be the one to win Sasuke's affection. So Ino competed with her one time friend. She had to. She couldn't be weak.

Years filled with painful animosity passed before eventually it happened that things settled for them both. A fight was held as part of their first chunin exam. In this fight it seemed they had reached an understanding, a level of respect, and afterwards efforts were made to restore broken bonds. Still even if they were "friends" once more, it was still an ugly friendship, combative and spiteful. Ino hated it.

Looking back on everything, Ino definitely did not thank Azami. Still she never had thoughts about how things would be different if she had not pursued Sasuke. Maybe she had made some mistakes she would sometimes think, but at least she was over them. At least for the moment Ino was content with the person she was.

Yes, Ino Yamanaka was content, yet at the same time she was also irritated. It was the dead of night. She was on a ninja mission. She had left her tent and the team's camp to enjoy the cool night air and escape from Sakura.

This was the first time it ever happened. The Hokage was becoming sloppy Ino could only guess. It no longer seemed to matter what ninja team one belonged to anymore, it now only seemed to matter who was ready to be deployed at that exact moment. As it would happen at the exact moment this team had been assembled, Sakura had been just as ready as Ino.

So here they were, both of them, on a mission together. Ino seldom remembered what the mission even was; something about delivering some sort of important top-secret message to a remote ninja village that had recently popped up on the Land of Fire's Eastern border. Ino's only thoughts were not on her mission but rather on avoiding her one time best friend as much as was possible.

Of course she failed hopelessly. The second Ino had found a nice tree to rest under she heard the rustling sound of footsteps in the grass. Seconds later she saw blur of pink break through the trees in front of her and soon Sakura was standing right before her.

"Here you are Ino." Sakura said with a relieved sigh as she walked toward the other.

"What, were you looking for me?" Ino said with a cold laugh.

"You just up and vanish from our tent without a word. What was I supposed to do?" Sakura said in protest.

"I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself, Sakura." Ino said as mockingly as possible.

"Fine be that way. I'll just leave you out here to freeze to death and get mauled by wild animals." Sakura said harshly but with a kind undertone.

"Fine by me. It's better than the alternative" Ino spoke bitterly.

"Is my company really that unpleasant, Ino?" Sakura asked now with anger in her voice.

Ino sighed loudly; she said in a jokingly malevolent way, "Of course it is. Why else do you think Sasuke was so quick to leave?"

Sakura became immediately infuriated; soon she was yelling, "Look here Ino you pig! That's going too far! He didn't leave because of me!" She stopped and fell to her knees, in soft whimper she broke down, "It wasn't me… I'm not the reason he, he, h-he…"

Ino hated seeing Sakura like this, even more so when it was her words at the root of it. In their youth when Sakura cried she'd rush forth and do anything in her power to comfort the girl. Now all she could do was make her angry again.

"Someone needs to toughen up. So the guy you were hot for turned out to be a real bastard. You just need to stop being such a baby about it and deal with it. All crying does is wrinkle that oversized forehead of yours." Ino said caustically perfectly masking her concern.

"Shut up you damn pig! Don't act like you didn't care about Sasuke just as much as I did." Sakura shouted, slamming her fist into the ground and leaving a small crater.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. Either way that's all in the past. I could care less if Sasuke was dead now." Ino said in a cool voice.

"I still care. He'll come back to us some day. I just know he will!" Sakura said without wavering.

"Well even if he does come back, I for one am not particularly interested anymore." Ino said apathetically.

"Ha! So I've finally won." Sakura said with noted enthusiasm.

"Sure. Congratulations, you're now the only person in the whole village who gives a damn about that bastard anymore, you can have him. I'm sure if he did come back you'd be the only one who'd want him anyways." Ino said with a condescending air.

"Why do you have to be like that, Ino?" Sakura asked in indignation.

"You're the one who wanted me as a rival in the first place if you remember." Ino replied coldly.

"Well if you don't want Sasuke anymore doesn't that mean we aren't rivals anymore?" Sakura asked with a slight smirk

Ino really hadn't thought about that. If not Sasuke what other reason was there for her to act this horrible way towards Sakura save for the fact that it had over the years become customary. Still even with Sasuke out of the picture she doubted things could go back to how they once were; Ino doubted Sakura still saw her as the same person from back then; actually, in truth, Ino was starting to find it hard to remember her old self as well

"Hmm, well I don't see how that really changes anything. You still turned your back on our friendship, and I'm still better than you." Ino said haughtily with a confident laugh.

Sakura opened her mouth at once, most likely for a vicious retort, but when she had let Ino's words sink in for a moment she chose to instead say in a more soft tone, "Wait! Ino! Does that mean that all this time, you were... You fought so hard with me... all of it, all the anger; it was because you were mad at me for ending our friendship."

"Just shut up forehead girl! What do you know! Here you came out here so I'd go back to the stupid tent with you! So here you go you got what you want, I'm going!" Ino was downright frantic in her yelling; she felt embarrassed that she was reacting this strongly. A tear was rolling from her eye as she began her ran back to the tent; she prayed Sakura could not see it.

Apparently Sakura had realized Ino needed her space, for the pink haired kunoichi did not follow the blonde directly back. Ino was alone lying in her tent, thinking about whatever thoughts crossed her mind. It was of course that those thoughts converged on Sakura. She had no clue how that girl could get her so worked up.

Azami Ijiri was model kunoichi, strong, cool, fashionable, everything Ino had wanted to be in her youth. She was also really wise; Ino couldn't help but think as she remembered her one time role model's words: If only she would have never become attached to Sakura, if only she would have never tried to make friends, if only she had succeeded in winning Sasuke over, she would have never become accustomed to such pain.

A/N: Short introductory chapter. Really I didn't want to do much beyond the setup to start this fic so I apologize if it comes off as insubstantial. So you can kinda see how this thing is going to be built up. In case your wondering, this fic will be Ino-centric, as in all the chapters will be told like this one, with the focus on Ino. Why I'm doing it this way I don't know; probably because I'm having a bit of a Sakura overload at the moment (the other fic I'm currently writing also has Sakura), or maybe it's the simple fact that I like Ino better, or maybe it's that Ino X Sakura fics usually seems to work better when Ino's at the center of the pairing. I don't know. As for my OC this time round, I'm taking a different approach than usual, inserting an OC actually into a character's past. Azami, Ino's cousin and role model will be a force in this fic, and you'll probably see more scenes with her like the beginning one in the other chapters. Review and keep reading, expect the next chapter soon.


	2. Bonds of Hatred

A/N: Happy to see a good response on this one. Hope you all still like it after this chapter. Here we go.

Disclaimer: The trees are disappearing (And I do not own Naruto).

A cool wind blew across the air as a young Ino Yamanaka sat and stared upward at the cloud filled sky. It wasn't like the active young girl to do something as pointless and lazy as watching the clouds, but at the moment it seemed necessary. Her mind was just as clouded as the sky.

"Hey Ino! How've you been?" A friendly voice called out to the young child who turned at once from her dream like daze.

"Oh! Azami. I didn't see you there." Ino said as she realized the presence of her older cousin; she offered a faint smile as she got to her feet and walked toward the other girl.

"That's cool. Anyway, did you take my advice from the other day?" Azami asked with a warm smile.

Ino sighed; with a sure degree of reluctance she replied, "Well… I guess."

"So did you see anything you liked?" Azami said with a cool laugh.

"Umm, I don't know… I mean I don't think I'm too interested in guys at the moment… I'd rather j-just-" Ino said wanting desperately to not displease the older girl.

"Yes I know, you'd rather just play with all your little girlfriends." Azami said harshly causing Ino to continue to tremble. Azami gave a hard sigh before saying in a more comforting way, "That's exactly the kinda kiddy thoughts we need for you to get over. Finding a good man will help you grow up and become an adult."

"I'm sorry." Ino said while shaking with slight fear. In following Azami's lead Ino had cemented her place as the cool, popular girl in her class; to this point listening to Azami had gotten her so much but that didn't stop Azami's current advice from sounding any less wrong to her. She wondered what her classmates would think if they saw her as she was now, weak, fearful, trembling, and afraid of so much as looking at her mentor with disagreeing eyes.

"So you really saw nothing you liked." Azami said calmly placing a hand on top of Ino's head to placate her.

Ino thought a moment, she smiled as she arrived at a new answer, "Well, there is this one guy who's pretty interesting…"

"Eh, really? Tell me about him." Azami grinned as she spoke.

"Well, he's like really cool. He's the best at everything in my class, far better than me. He's super skilled at everything, he even knows how to do some real jutsu like the adults!" Ino talked excitedly as if something in her had been ignited.

"Ha. I'm not sure I've seen many working relationships arise from 'admiration of ninja skills,' it's weak but I suppose it's a start." Azami said laughing at Ino's enthusiasm and lacking her own as she withdrew her hand from the girl's head. The older girl then casually added a question, "What's this guy's name?"

"Sasuke. Sasuke Uchiha." Ino said with a wide smile.

Azami's eyes went wide and she gave Ino a superbly full smile; excitement in her eyes she spoke, "Uchiha… yes, very good little Ino, win your Uchiha and you're guaranteed nothing but the happiest life you could imagine. You must pursue this one with everything you have."

"But Sasuke's like super popular, almost all the girls I know like him and I don't think he even likes me. I'm not sure I have too much of a shot." Ino sounded sad, both from the prospect of being unwanted and that of disappointing Azami.

"You just have to fight hard for him. Don't be afraid to step on anyone who gets in your way. Trust me, Sasuke's worth losing friends over. And when it's clear you're his best choice he'll come around to liking you on his own." Azami said in that most certain tone of voice that had always made Ino want to believe her.

"I'll try." Ino said softly.

"Good. Trust me Ino. When this is all over you'll be happy." Azami said peacefully as she left her young cousin in peace with a smile.

---

Ino Yamanaka's attempts to win the heart of Sasuke Uchiha were over now yet Ino found it a hard claim to say she was happy. She wondered if her lack of happiness rooted from her inability to fulfill Azami's goal for her and win Sasuke, or from a flaw in Azami's advice.

Either way, in looking back Ino knew she had lost everything she had back then. Sasuke, the one she admired had left the village two years ago, Azami her precious mentor had left only a couple years before that, and Sakura her dearest friend was now someone who the very company of brought to her such guilt and loathing.

Ino laughed as she remembered the pathetic level of emotion she had displayed the previous night. Why did it bother her so much? She had wrecked so many friendships by now it should be second nature. Why was Sakura so different?

"Good morning Ino." The voice of a now awake Sakura came to Ino as she sat in their tent, barely awake herself.

"Sakura." Ino said smugly, making effort to show she was beyond her emotional distress.

"I'm sorry." Sakura said kindly.

"Why the hell are you apologizing, Sakura?" Ino said with much reluctance.

"Last night, I said some things I maybe shouldn't have. I didn't mean to hurt you or embarrass you in any way. I'm sorry." Sakura said in a deep honest fashion, Ino could tell she had spent much thought on this before she had went to sleep the prior night.

"Stop, I'm the one who should apologize if anyone. I said some things that were downright mean last night…" Ino said, letting a fraction of her inner guilt to rise to the surface.

"It's fine. Stuff like that does hurt, but we just need to learn how to get over it…" Sakura gave a faint smile as she spoke her wisdom.

"You're right. We're not kids anymore, Sakura. We can't let that stuff bother us anymore; we have to just move forward. Right now what's important is our mission." Ino said in a calm fashion, hoping desperately she could believe herself while knowing in truth that something in her was not as mature as Sakura had become.

"Saying stuff like that makes me remember why I used to look up to you in the first place." Sakura said with a light laugh as she got to her feet.

"Eh, really? Well, alright, let's go see if the others are ready yet." Ino said happily, perhaps more happily then was necessary.

The two kunoichi then dressed themselves and exited their tent. They found that their comrades on the mission, Ino's good friend and teammate Choji, and the mission's jounin leader, Sakura's sensei Kakashi, had already taken down their tent and were ready for departure. The girls were soon just as ready to head out on the mission.

The ninja team departed the camp site and began their trek eastward. Sakura was tasked with carrying the scroll that they had been sent to deliver. They were moving at a brisk pace and all seemed to be at ease for the moment.

"So Sakura, I was wondering why you were so late in returning to your tent last night?' Kakashi asked in a conversational voice as the group continued onward.

"Oh, you saw that, sensei? I just wasn't tired. I had some stuff to think about… " Sakura said evasively.

"Hmm, I know how Ino can get; I bet you were just waiting till she was fast asleep before you even went in there." Choji said lightly mockingly.

"Shut up Choji. I'm not the one who wakes up like seven times in one night to feed himself." Ino said in a mock cruel voice that ended in a laugh.

"Hey, come on Ino, you know at most it's only three times in one night." Choji tried to defend himself.

"So were you on watch last night, sensei? Is that why you saw me?" Sakura asked Kakashi, avoiding the other's argument.

"Oh? Well, yes I was, Sakura. Normally I wouldn't bring it up, but it is important that you all get enough sleep, missions like this one can end up being quite… arduous sometimes." Kakashi said sounding almost carefree.

"You really think we'll find any danger on this mission?" Choji said with a gulp.

"Oh yes. That scroll there is likely some sort of legal protection for this new village. Considering the proximity the village has to the border, I'm certain at least one of the nearby nations won't greet us so friendly, I'd say we'll be fighting for our lives within the next hour or so." Kakashi said not altering the somewhat bored inflection in his voice in the slightest.

"Seriously?! God, I didn't know I'd signed up for anything difficult. You better not slack off Sakura." Ino said with energy, not sure if she should be scared of the possible threat or excited at the chance to let loose some of her anger.

"Come now, Ino. Remember, Sakura's a full fledged medical ninja trained by the Fifth Hokage herself now. I seriously doubt she'd be the one to fall behind." Kakashi reminded the blonde kunoichi as calmly as ever.

"Really, I'm not so special, sensei." Sakura said with a slight blush.

"Ha Sakura might have the better chakra control and medical skills but I know I got her beat at a lot of things still, there are jutsu I can do that she'll never be able to." Ino boasted.

"Yeah, but realistically how much help is any of your mind transfer stuff going to be in a real fight without Shikamaru here to hold 'em still for you." Choji contested with a laugh.

"Errgh! Well you're the same Choji, you think the enemy ninja are going to just stand still while your slow ass beats up on them." Ino argued bitterly.

"Hey, I can move fast enough if I have to." Choji shot back defensively.

The group continued onward a while longer. They soon found their way out of the forest they were familiar with and into harsher rockier surroundings. Ino had seldom been out this way and found the sights of the tall mountains and steep cliffs to be somewhat breathtaking.

They were navigating a steep mountain path that cut out across a river when Kakashi next addressed the group, sounding suddenly serious, "Looks like my prediction was right on target. We're being tracked closely by three ninja who seem to be closing in. We'll most likely be engaged in combat shortly."

Looks that mixed fear and anticipation in different quantities crept across the faces of the three chunin as they heard this news. Ino found herself contented. Sakura was here, but it really wasn't any different than any other mission. She would lay her life on the line for the sake of her village, and they'd come out victorious. There was nothing that made this mission truly different.

Then without warning there was a barrage of kunai from three different directions that brought the group to a halt at the edge of a daunting cliff. Soon the four Konoha shinobi were surrounded by three others with ill intent.

"Shinobi of Konoha. We can not allow you to complete your mission. The village you seek to bring under your protection is a threat to our glorious Land of Lightning." Said one of the three in a commanding tone. This man was around forty years of age, his head was shaved and he had a rough beard. He was short but quite muscular. He wore the headband of the Hidden Cloud Village across his head.

"Yeah, so you got an option. Either run along back home or die by our hands." A second man said. This one was younger, in his late twenties. Despite this he seemed to have the cocky eagerness of a boy half his age. He had long black hair and an angry scowl on his face and also wore the Cloud headband.

The third member of the group was a woman; she was dressed in the outfit of a Cloud Village ANBU member. She was tall and thin and had dark orange hair. Her face was covered by her ANBU mask.

"Well, I'm sorry, but running or dying aren't really the best options for us. You see, even in a remote location like this, it is the job of the Hokage and Konoha to extend their protection to all citizens of the Land of Fire. So if you're intent on getting in the way of our mission, we'll be forced to defeat you." Kakashi said in a smug tone that seemed to really piss off the younger man and the woman.

"We'll see about that. Ha, that mask, the way you wear your headband, I know you. I've always wondered how the 'lightning blade' of Kakashi Hatake stood up to my own." The younger man spoke recklessly as he pulled a long-bladed katana from his back. This sword seemed to have a long thin wire weaved in and out of the blade in a peculiar fashion; in concentrating his chakra into the insulated hilt the man caused the blade of the sword to spark with radiant electricity.

"Do not become arrogant Akihiko! Perhaps it would be more in your interest to allow the Sharingan Ninja to be my opponent." The older man said scornfully.

"Hell no! Kakashi's mine, you and Seika can have the little ones, Teruo!" Akihiko said forcefully as he charged in Kakashi's direction.

"Hmmph, so be it. Which one of you children wants to die at my hand first?" Teruo said in a stout tone, looking at the chunin, set for battle.

"I'll fight you. " Choji said shaking only slightly as he stepped forth to challenge the older man, looking as though he regretted ever getting involved with this mission in the first place.

"Fighting me means death." The female ANBU Seika said with ferocity that made Ino shake slightly. She supposed Sakura must have noticed this because it was that girl who charged into the fight before her.

Ino was thus left alone while her comrades engaged in battles with these enemies. This is exactly what she couldn't let happen. Sakura was fighting, she had to fight to. She watched the fights in order to determine which of her teammates needed her help.

Seika had drawn her sword and was making sweeps at Sakura. Sakura however, was keeping on top of things, the young kunoichi was avoiding every attack that came her way, and it seemed in making her rare counters that Sakura was inducing in the woman a level of great pain. Ino felt she was capable of turning her attention to the next fight if only momentarily.

Kakashi and the man named Akihiko were moving at incredible speeds. Akihiko would slash at Kakashi with his sword and Kakashi would avoid. Kakashi, who knew he could not fight with a weapon save risk having electricity from Akihiko's sword conducted directly to him, would then unleash one of the many jutsu he had learned with his Sharingan eye. Ino found it fascinating to watch the jounin's battle, not knowing what sort of jutsu Sakura's sensei would pull out next. As Kakashi's famed Lightning blade began to form in his hand it seemed at once clear to Ino that the sharingan bearer had the edge in this fight so she turned to the other.

Teruo seemed to have a skill at creating solid barriers in the air by polarizing select particles with electricity. Choji could be seen forcefully pounding away at these barriers with much of his body expanded several times. For all the effort he was putting into the fight Choji was getting nowhere and Ino knew it, she knew that Choji knew it as well. No, all Choji could do in that fight was buy time until Kakashi was ready to help. Ino's help there would be unnecessary.

Seika was in full swing now, Ino could tell this woman was faster than Sakura and that her skill with her sword was quite high, short intricate cuts were falling on the pink-haired kunoichi that the blonde could seldom see before they happened. Determined Ino now rushed to Sakura's side intent on offering her aid in fighting her opponent.

The battle became intense as Sakura and Ino struggled to keep up with Seika's swift and accurate sword. Ino took to deflecting ensuing strikes with her kunai while she let Sakura take the offensive. This strategy worked to a degree, but Seika was still faster than either of them and even with her great strength, Sakura's attacks were of little use when more often than not they came up as misses.

It was obvious to Ino that Seika was getting impatient. Her strikes were becoming wider and seemed to lack focus now, yet at the same time much more difficult to predict. Ino had saw it coming, that Seika would find an opening and land a serious attack somewhere in her defense, she just hadn't expected the target. Ino hardly noticed when she found her kunai deflecting not Seika's sword but rather another kunai, the sword in the other hand busily cutting hard through Sakura's right shoulder.

"Sakura!" Ino called in a panic, seeming to neglect the fierce battle she was engaged in in favor of running to her friend's side.

"I'm alright Ino, it's not too serious, it'll heal right up. Please just don't stop fighting." Sakura said in a quite subdued manner considering the pain she likely felt.

Sakura was right, Ino couldn't stop fighting for a second or else Seika would slash her to pieces. It was then that Ino realized that she did stop fighting for a second and Seika wasn't slashing her to pieces. Seika was too busy laughing.

"Oh my this is too good. I wasn't going to but now I think I have to..." Seika said as she continued to howl with laughter, her hand soon raised up to her mask.

"Seika! What are you doing? You may have only just recently come to our village but the Raikage has faith in your abilities, you are expected to act as a proper member of our ANBU force. You are not to show your enemy your face." Teruo called out fiercely as he observed, a thoroughly defeated but still breathing Choji lie on the ground nearby.

"Just shut up old man. This is too good. I simply can't pass up this chance for such a happy little family reunion." Seika said with malice lingering in her voice. Slowly she removed her mask.

"A-Azami..." Ino was stunned, she was older now, roughly twenty years of age, but looking in the face of the Cloud ANBU Seika, Ino was left with little doubt that this was the same woman whom she had once looked at as a role-model.

"Do you know her Ino?" Sakura said frightened at the reaction she was seeing on her friend's face.

"Azami Ijiri. Former ninja of Konoha. She became a rogue ninja roughly four years ago. She's Ino's cousin."Said Kakashi causing all active parties to turn in his direction, Akihiko lay on the floor completely motionless making it difficult to tell if he was dead or merely unconscious.

"Ino, I'm sorry. I never knew." Sakura said somberly.

"It's okay Sakura. It's just something from my past I need to deal with. It doesn't concern you." Ino said as she moved to where she was looking Azami directly in the eye.

Azami gave a fierce laugh; in a condescending tone she said, "So how's my favorite little cousin been. You've been able to do okay alone, without me there to show you how it's done?"

"Azami! You have some nerve to talk to me like that after all this. You're my enemy now and don't think for a second I won't be willing to kill you." Ino shouted frantically, showing a deep hatred in her eyes.

"Go ahead and try. You're weak Ino." Azami said almost mockingly.

"I'm weak! What makes you say that?! I'm not the same little girl I was back when you knew me!" Ino could hardly believe how angry she was getting, she had always told herself Azami had been more or less good for her, but now that she was face to face with her cousin once more nothing was coming out of her but unchecked hostility.

"You're weak because you didn't listen to me. You still kept attached to certain things." Azami said casually. Then with a sudden burst of speed Azami took a step toward Sakura from the side with the shoulder she had previously injured, and placed her in a quick hold, her sword resting inches under Sakura's throat. Azami smiled as she then said, "Like this for instance."

"Sakura! Azami you bitch let her go or I'll..." Ino said with visible rage.

"Or you'll what? I could kill this girl just like that and not think twice about. Hell, her death would probably help you in the end, make you become stronger." Azami laughed in Ino's face as she spoke.

Ino was flat out scared at this moment, scared that Sakura would be dead in any seconds, she looked around for hope frantically. Choji hadn't moved, Teruo seemed to have placed Kakashi inside some sort of lightning filled cube shaped cage. Through this Sakura was paralyzed with Azami's blade at her neck, knowing full well she would be cut if she so much as inhaled too much air. It seemed everything was up to Ino.

"Please, Azami. Please, please don't kill Sakura." Ino found herself pleading desperately praying that Azami still had some kindness left.

"Look at you begging your enemy, absolutely pathetic. Lucky for you I had no intention of killing this girl in the first place even if I really want to now. No it's easer to get to you while she's alive." Azami said, sounding somewhere between pitying and disgusted.

"What are you going to do?" Ino asked still not letting go of her fear.

"This should be enough." Azami said and with that she gave a flick of her wrist and a strange tube shot forth from her sleeve, on connecting with Sakura's back sparks flew out visibly as a massive electric shock circulated through Sakura's body. Ino could only watch as her close friend fell motionless to the ground at her cousin's feet.

A/N: Well, that seems to be a good cut off point. Not cliffhangery at all. But seriously, this chapter was different from the first. More of an action chapter. Little less of our girls but at the same time I think a lot of it was more meaningful. If you haven't noticed this fic's a little slow on the yuri front, trust me it will be an obvious theme with the next chapter and in the fourth the girls will be having their little sexy fun together. On to my OC's, Teruo ad Akihiko are pretty much superfluous, included much like Choji and Kakashi just so things wouldn't be awkward. Konoha conducts missions in four man squads and though very little is known about the hidden cloud village (and yes I pretty much decided to go with the whole hidden village of thing for all villages besides Konoha instead of referring to them by names like Kumo or Kiri, I really don't know why, it just seems easier to keep up with. I never was much of a purist but I seem to be becoming even less so as time goes on...) but it is safe to assume they would not send a recently recruited missing-nin on a mission alone. basically the central OC for this story is still Azami except now she's in the flashback scenes and the actual story both. Writing her I'm beginning to think she might be the most unpleasant OC I've ever written, and that's saying something since I've written a mad scientist type with dreams of genocide, and a rapist leader of a child slavery ring. Azami just seems heartless even if she's not so obviously evil. I don't know .Anyways, hope you liked it. Review and expect more soon.


	3. Bonds of Admiration

A/N: Alright here goes. More Ino X Sakura action. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I am the squirrel and the magical fisherman (…I just don't know anymore… I don't own Naruto).

Rain poured hard from the clouds, a cruel wind ripped through the peaceful village of Konoha. Azami Ijiri sat alone on a porch outside the Yamanaka home, the home she had for the time come to call her own, peacefully contemplating the desolation that had come to overwhelm her heart. It was then that she became jarred from her reflection, alerted to a new sound, the sound of a young girl's cry.

"Ino, what's wrong?" Azami said at once as Ino Yamanaka, her young cousin came out through the pouring rain, she was in full tears.

"Azami…" Ino said miserably as she came out of the rain and next to Azami, she tried helplessly to stop her crying.

"What happened?" Azami asked in genuine concern, placing a hand atop the girl's blonde head.

"It's just… it's just…" Ino said painfully finding it impossible to speak. She went silent for a minute before collecting herself enough to explain, "Sakura likes Sasuke too."

Azami's expression stayed somber as she received this news. In a low, even tone she advised, "I thought I told you Sasuke was worth losing friends over. Friendships can't last forever, Ino. I know it hurts, but Sasuke is worth this."

"No." Ino said simply, sternly.

"What's that? You think you can stay friends with Sakura even though you're after the same guy?" Azami asked doubtfully.

"No. I know that's impossible. Sakura told me herself it was over already. That we're not friends anymore… T-that we're, that we'll, f-for Sasuke… only one of us will win." Ino couldn't help but break down once more as she said this.

"That's how it happens, kid. Best friends one day, bitter rivals the next. It's how the world works; people are like that, one day they'll be close to you one day then the next thing you know you'll be fighting them to the death on the battlefield." Azami said with pessimistic gloom.

"But why does it have to be that way, Azami?! Why can't I be Sakura's friend?!" Ino cried out in anguish.

"Trust me, kid, you'd be better off forgetting you and this girl were ever friends. What's one little girl compared to a prodigal son of the Uchiha?" Azami said actually giving a slight amused laugh.

"Sakura was my friend! We talked and laughed and played together all the time. We helped each other through everything… Sasuke doesn't like me; Sasuke's never once even looked at me." Ino shouted indignantly, in high emotion.

"Then make him look! Be as bitter and ruthless as possible. Shove Sakura and every other girl to the ground and walk over their faces. Do whatever you have to to make him see only you." Azami said with a ferocity that had Ino captivated.

"Azami… I'm not sure I'm strong enough for all this. Today when Sakura told me everything… about wanting to end our f-friendship, I felt like I had to cry. It was so hard being strong like you always said, keeping everything inside. I don't know if I can do this. I don't know if I could take it." Ino's eyes became glossed with tears once more.

"You need to get over that remaining weakness, Ino. One day when looking back on this day while wrapped in Sasuke's arms you'll realize you had nothing to cry about today." Azami said confidently in that tone that always made Ino want to believe her.

"I'll try to be strong, Azami." Ino said with reluctance, a pout on her lips.

"Yes. Have faith in me, Ino. In the future, looking back on it all, you'll be grateful for the advice I gave you today." Azami offered what would be her final advice to the girl with another light pat on the head.

---

Normally Ino was fairly objective when she thought on all the advice she had received from Azami and what it had gotten her in her life. However as it was now, her best friend strewn motionless across the ground, that very woman Azami Ijiri, now her enemy, howling with spiteful laughter as she stood over her, Ino couldn't help but in her reflection think at that moment that Azami had always been full of shit.

Well, Ino supposed, maybe at least one thing she said held water; her and Azami had been close and now they were meeting on opposite sides of the battlefield. But in all accounts at that moment Ino didn't feel the least bit of gratitude toward her cousin.

It took her a few moments to register what had just happened to Sakura; Azami had employed the use of some sort of electric shock tube that had sent the pink-haired kunoichi instantly to the ground. With not a single wasted breath, Ino rushed to her best friend's side, frantically searching for life signs.

"Sakura, Sakura wake up. Please, hang on!" Ino shouted in panic, she felt a slight relief as she felt Sakura's pulse. Turning she yelled in her cousin's direction, "Azami! What the fuck do you think you've done to her?!"

"Nothing too serious, don't worry. Your pathetic little girlfriend's life isn't in any danger at the moment. That shock tube isn't lethal. Hell, she's not even unconscious. Right now little Sakura's just suffering from, how shall I say, a temporary paralysis." Azami said with malice on her tongue.

"Whatever you did undo it this instant or I swear you'll regret it!" Ino said quite caustically.

"I seriously doubt you could do anything to me, little girl. I couldn't 'undo' anything either, the effects wear off on their own after an hour. Until then Sakura's entire body will remain in a state of shut down; she can't move she can't speak, she can't do anything but lie there. Of course her senses will still be as sharp as ever; she'll still be able to feel the pain I inflict on her, hear your tortured cries, everything like that." Azami said cruelly, giving another evil laugh.

"You bitch!" Ino shouted forcefully getting to her feet and drawing a kunai to point at Azami.

Azami offered a slight smirk before disappearing from Ino's sight. Momentarily she reappeared at the blonde's side, on the other side of Sakrua's limp body. With a hard kick to Sakura's chest, Azami sent the paralyzed kunoichi flying dangerously close to the edge of the cliff on which they fought. She landed on her side, facing Ino.

"There, now she can see you suffer as well." Azami said content with herself as she took some steps away form Ino.

"Why are you doing this to her, Azami?!" Ino said with such animosity it would scare most.

"It's not your little playmate I'm after Ino. No, it's definitely you." Azami said with a pointed air.

"What do you want from me? Do you enjoy watching me suffer?" Ino said quivering slightly from her overwhelming hatred.

"Of course not. All I've ever wanted is to help you, my cousin. You were such a sad and awkward little kid when we first met, I just had to take you under my wing, show you how to become someone popular, show you how to make something of yourself. This is no different; I'm your enemy now so I'm entitled to tactics I might not have had at my disposal before but, believe me Ino, everything I do, I do to help you." Azami said with a mocking quality to her voice.

"Fuck you! Fuck you, Azami! It was a mistake to listen to anything you ever told me. Everything you ever said was a lie!" Ino cried in a fit of rage, her anger had stirred some tears.

"Don't you see all you owe me, Ino? I'm the reason you made friends in the first place. I'm the reason everyone came to respect and appreciate you. Every bit of happiness you've seen since we met is my doing… Which reminds me, how'd the pursuit of your little Uchiha go." Azami continued to mock her opponent horribly.

"You bitch! You have no right to bring up Sasuke!" Ino shouted back.

"I take it ended unhappily. I'm sure after I left you let that intolerably weak side of you show and just decided to give up and run back to your little girlfriend." Azami continued to patronize the young blonde.

"I didn't give up! Sasuke chose the same path as you in the end." Ino defended herself in a more level fashion.

Azami was once more in a fit of laughter at this new revelation. Containing herself she spoke, "I suppose it only makes sense that he'd run away and betray his village if he was attracting admirers as pathetic as you are."

'"How… dare you…" Ino said in disbelief at what she had just heard. Remembering a similar comment she had offered Sakura the previous night only made the pain she felt worse.

"I suppose you can't be too disappointed though. After all I seem to remember you didn't really care too much about him in the first place. You were always more interested in this pathetic little piece of trash." Azami addressed Sakura as she spoke, approaching the girl once more.

"You get away from her!" Ino shouted.

"The more I think on it that's probably how it is with you. Maybe my hopes were too high to assume that someone as pathetic as you would even end up with a man. It has to be that that's your true nature, that no matter how hard you fought to convince yourself that Sasuke was what you wanted, all that a sick disgusting freak like you ever wanted was to get under this little bitch's skirt." Azami said with disgust clear in her voice.

"Shut up! Just don't say things like that!" Ino said not aware of the level she was screaming.

"'Don't say it?' So what you're not going to even try to deny it? You do realize she can hear everything we say? She already is never going to be able to look at you the same way again." Azami said in amusement.

"I don't need to defend myself against you Azami. You are an enemy ninja and I am going to treat you in the same manner as I would any other enemy. I swear I'll kill you here and now!" Ino came back strongly, with force and drive as she took several steps toward Azami with her kunai in hand.

"Oh? And what If I did this?" Azami said with a laugh before dislodging a kunai into the lifeless body at her feet. It penetrated deep into Sakura's left thigh.

"Stop. Don't hurt her. I'll, I'll…" Ino fought tremblingly.

"You've already sworn you'll kill me. Is there anything else you can threaten me with? You can't stop this little fun." Azami said as she threw another knife at Sakura, this time at her shoulder. Ino then watched in horror as Azami grabbed Sakura by one of her limp arms and delivered several hard kicks to her stomach. When Azami let the girl return to her spot on the ground Ino could see blood trickle from her mouth and tears crawl across her face though like before the girl made no sound or movement.

"I'll fucking kill you!" Ino said with unabridged choleric anger as she charged her cousin with her kunai. Azami had no issue brushing off the attack and delivering a counter, sending Ino reeling back with a sword wound to her right arm.

Azami gave another hard, horrible laugh as she saw Ino clench her wounds in pain. She smiled as she once more took Sakura by the arm, pulling her upright into a hold. She said, "Isn't it sweet little Sakura? Look how madly in love with you your disgusting little friend is. Think about how sad she'll be when she sees the woman she loves die before her eyes."

"What are you saying, Azami!? You said you weren't going to kill her!" Ino shouted frantically.

"Yes, I know I said that. It's just I changed my mind. Killing her might just let you get over this whole stage, maybe then you can leave these nauseating lesbian fantasies of yours behind." Azami said in clear disdain.

"Just stop. Leave her alone!" Ino shouted as she once more charged forward in attack. Even though Azami was holding Sakura, avoiding an emotionally wrecked Ino proved no hassle at all. She smiled as she kicked her cousin hard out of the way.

"Oh, just stop trying to beat me already. Don't you see it's hopeless? Now, when I toss her over this cliff, I wonder if she'll die from the impact or survive that and die from drowning helplessly in the river below." Azami said in a quizzical way as she dragged Sakura's paralyzed body toward the cliff's edge, prepared to push it over.

Kakashi, who had still been fighting Teruo, seemed to notice out of the corner of his eye that his student had been placed in the grasp of death. He turned to rush in her direction but found his path at once impeded by another of the Cloud ninja's barriers. Ino knew it was her job to save Sakura's life.

With as much speed as she could muster with her injuries Ino flew forward, determined to reach the cliff's edge before Sakura went over. Her heart was pounding. She couldn't think about anything else, she had to save Sakura.

Ino found herself grabbing hold of Sakura just as Azami had let her go. She had made it; she had a firm hold. She fought to pull her friend back up to level ground That's when she felt a sharp kick at her back.

There was no stopping it then; now not only was Sakura going to fall off this cliff Ino was too. Azami had kicked her forcefully, causing her to lose her balance. Offering her final words in a condescending way, Azami called out, "Choosing this bitch over Sasuke is one thing, choosing her over me and my sound judgment is another. Please remember that you're the one who chose to die today, Ino."

Ino didn't respond; by the time Azami's words were done she knew she had already fallen out of range to make any response. She pulled Sakura in close to her so they were embracing tightly, she was prepared for death.

Then Ino realized she really didn't want to die just like that, that she was a kunoichi, and that this was not hopeless. Noticing a small snag a way's down on the side of the steep cliff's wall she guided her and Sakura towards it, outstretching her injured arm (she used the steadier arm to hold tightly to Sakura).

It was with much difficulty, force and chakra that Ino managed to grab hold of the rocky out-jutting and she could feel her hand scratch up at once against the rough surface. She was for the moment safe, she had already fallen half the distance toward the river below, a fall now was not sure to be fatal. She had little choice but to have faith and hope for the best as she could feel her grip loosening, Sakura's weight continued to drag her downward. She couldn't help but let go.

Ino didn't remember much after that, she had no way of knowing if she had fainted before or after she hit the water. When she next found herself revived to the world she was washed up on a bank of the river, with no way of knowing how far it had taken her. She coughed up some water as she came to before without second thought searching out Sakura.

Apparently she had done well to keep Sakura close even without full consciousness as the girl was only a short distance back up the riverbank. She ran to the girl's side with hope alive in her heart.

The river had been a deep yet fairly tame one, Ino could account her own survival to this, but Sakura's survival would be a miracle. Sakura still lie motionless, no longer even breathing. The blonde wasn't about to just give up though, she gave a few pumps to the girl's chest until she coughed up the water that had begun to fill her lungs, and as she saw the girl begin to pant desperately for air it was then Ino realized Sakura still clung to life.

As breathless as she was in such a situation, Ino joined her mouth to Sakura's in order to refill her lungs with air and soon the girl was breathing steadily once more. Ino found herself overjoyed.

Sakura, though having survived drowning, still made no movement though she seemed once more to be aware of her surroundings. Ino had no way of knowing how much longer Azami's paralysis would be in effect, but for the moment she knew at least what she could do to decrease Sakrua's suffering.

Ino began at once to treat Sakura's exterior wounds. She cursed herself that she wasn't a medic of Sakura's caliber, that her own skills in that area were something she would openly admit to being second to the other. She went first for the wounds Azami had given her with her kunai, which still remained lodged in the girl's flesh.

She removed the small knives slowly, as painlessly as she could possibly do it, while she applied her chakra to heal the fractured bones, clean and close the wound, and stop the bleeding. Once both the kunai wound to the shoulder and thigh were well cared for Ino moved to the sword wound to Sakura's arm, and then she finally applied her chakra to the bruises she had received from Azami's kicks and from the fall.

Ino could tell she was about to pass out. Her chakra was at zero and her own injuries were killing her with pain. She wore a smile though; after all Sakura was no longer in danger. It was then that she saw it.

There was a faint twitch in Sakura's eye. The girl blinked a few times before tilting her tired head quite slightly. Ino's eyes lit up with joy at this sight. At once she wrapped herself around her friend's slowly awakening frame and began to cry.

"Sakura! Sakura. You're okay. You're okay. I thought you had left me once again…" Ino said with incredible emotion, elated as she felt Sakura's arms encircle her into a soft embrace.

Sakura didn't say anything; she just smiled as she held Ino tightly while she cried. It wasn't long before Ino had fallen asleep in her arms.

A/N: Well that's a chapter. You know I almost gave you all another cliffhanger (literally), cut it off right after Azami pushed Ino off the cliff. I decide to extend it a little for the sake of length and simply because I felt a sweet dramatic ending would make a better impact. So yeah, Azami's a real bitch, isn't she? I gave her most of the dialogue in this chapter (most of Ino's lines are short simple statements like "Fuck you bitch, I'll fucking kill you!"). Azami has some issues, but really in this chapter she might have actually in a way helped, cause some stuff is out there between Sakura and Ino that wasn't before. I wonder what will happen next? Anyways tell me your thoughts.

On to another matter. I know it may seem a tad premature, but I'm already planning what my next fic will be. Unfortunately for my Naruto obsessed readers, I'm going to be switching anime for awhile and write a few more yuri fics for Bleach (don't worry I still have more Naruto ideas in the very back of my head and will most definitely write for the anime again). But yeah, people who watch/read Bleach feel free to visit my profile; I have posted there, along with my reasons for making this change, a list of pairings I am considering (it's at the very bottom of the page). Please message me as to which ones are good and which ones aren't, I really need help on this, I mean there are 22 pairings posted there, and I know for a fact I'm not going to write all 22 of them. Thanks.


	4. Bonds of Hope

A/N: Chapter four. This one will contain sexual material. I know you probably all know that already, but just in case you didn't and don't like to read accounts of girls having sex together be expecting it.

Dislcarem: I misspelled disclaimer (I know I could fix it but I'm not going to… I don't own Naruto).

It was a cold dark day in the village of Konoha. A young blonde girl strolled down the street in the direction of a familiar old tree; she wore a smug look on her face as she muttered to herself, "Ha, I really showed her. That stupid forehead girl."

The blonde girl came to a stop under the tree. She looked around but caught no sight of that for which she looked; she said after awhile, "Hmm, she's not here either. I wonder where she could have gone."

"Ha, so you're looking for me now, are you, Ino?" called a voice from behind the girl.

Ino turned in the direction of the voice at once, catching sight of its source she said with a mix of glee and concern, "Azami! Azami! Where were you? Everyone was worried. And I had so much stuff to tell you too."

"Oh? Is that so? I guess I could listen to my dear cousin's little troubles again then." Azami said sounding somewhat down.

"Oh no, I don't have any troubles today. Nope! Every thing's perfectly fine. In fact today Sakura was showing off in front of Sasuke, and then I said some things that made everyone in our class laugh at her. It was great. I'm pretty sure I saw Sasuke look at me for a few seconds too!" Ino recounted excitedly bringing a soft smile to her cousins lips.

Azami continued to smile faintly as she said with a cool air, "I'm glad. Looks like you'll be alright even without me…"

"Without you?! What do you mean?! You'll always be here right?!" Ino asked, completely alarmed.

"Look kid, sometimes in this world things get so fucked up that all you can do is try and run away. I've tried living here with you and your family but in the end all it's amounted to is a whole lot of boring." Azami said in deep melancholy.

"No you can't leave. Me and mom and dad, we care about you. Where else could you go?!" Ino asked in indignation a tear trickling down her face.

"Who knows, kid? Maybe I'll finally follow my own advice and find some nice, good-looking guy and settle down somewhere. More likely I'll end up killing myself doing dangerous ninja work for some village I don't give a shit about." Azami said miserably.

"Why, Azami?! Why the fucking hell would you do something so god damn stupid?!" Ino said in high emotion, saying words a little girl probably shouldn't.

"Sometimes you just screw up kid. Eventually your mistakes begin to haunt you and you begin to feel you don't deserve any kindness, any warmth, like it's all too good for you." Azami said with real somberness.

"So you'd really leave me behind!? After everything you'd just turn your back on it all?!" Ino's tears hardened.

"Isn't that what I've been teaching you all along, kid? Don't become too close to others. The second you're attached to someone they'll turn around and betray you and leave you heartbroken." Azami said with a taciturn sigh as she began to walk away.

"If you leave I will never forgive you Azami!" Ino cried.

"I'm sorry, kid. But I'm done here." Azami said with a lingering sincerity as she became more distant.

"Azami!" Ino called out as she collapsed to her knees in full tears.

"Maybe we'll meet again some day, my cousin. Grow up to be someone cool and maybe we'll hang out together then." Azami said loud enough to where Ino could hear her before disappearing completely form the girl's vision.

---

Fuck Azami. Fuck that stupid bitch and everything she had ever said or done. How could she have ever cried for that stupid bitch? Those were Ino's thoughts as she found herself awake, her memories being awakened by a dream.

Ino was confused as she found herself awake. She tried to remember all that had happened: Azami had paralyzed Sakura. Hera and Azami had fought. Azami had pushed her and Sakura off a cliff. Ino had broken their fall to a degree but had fainted as they hit the river. She awoke upstream a little ways and had quickly found Sakura. She managed to resuscitate Sakura and had healed her wounds. The she had passed out after…

That's right, Sakura had been okay. Ino's dear friend had somehow managed to survive all that. She sat up at once to search for Sakura. The girl was only a short distance ahead of her on the other side of a small, warm fire. It was night but Sakura was wide awake. Ino was shocked to see that Sakura was completely naked.

It was so alarming in fact, that Ino initially failed to recognize the perhaps more relevant point that she herself was completely naked as well. When she did notice this, she turned a bright red and said stuttering, "S-Sakura, w-what the hell's going on? Why are we both naked?"

"Come now, Ino. We both fell into a cold river. If you had paid any attention to the Hokage's lessons you would have realized that after resuscitating me removing the wet clothing should have come next. It's a wonder neither of us caught some sort of cold in all that." Sakura scolded but smiled at her blonde friend.

Ino sighed, it seemed there was an actual reason her and Sakura's clothing had been removed. She felt a little guilty but that didn't stop her from taking a quick peak at the figure of the girl before her. Sakura's lithe frame and subtle curves, her beautiful white skin that looked so smooth and soft, it was all really quite amazing to behold. All at once Ino became so confused about herself.

"You're staring at me, Ino." Sakura said sounding somewhat disconcerted.

Ino's face went flush. She said in haste, "No, I was just. I mean I've never really seen you like this before Sakura, I was just a little curious."

"I understand, Ino. I for one hadn't realized you had gotten so ahead of me in certain areas until I took your shirt off... I'm a little jealous." Sakura said lightly with the cutest laugh. Ino face turned a deeper red.

Ino allowed things to be silent for a moment. She could sense this terrible tension between them. She spoke nervously, tears welling in her eyes, "Sakura, I was so scared. I didn't know what I was going to do if I lost you."

"Believe me I was scared also Ino, more so than I ever had been. Being aware of everything but being able to not move at all, I thought I would die at any moment and be powerless to do anything about it." Sakura said softly giving off a warmth.

"I can't believe her! That fucking bitch! I swear I'll never forgive her as long as I live." Ino shouted in real anger, as she thought of the woman who had put her friend through such suffering.

"Is that woman really your cousin, Ino?" Sakura asked, sounding somewhat subdued.

"Yes, unfortunately. She lived with us for a couple years, back around five or six years ago, before leaving the village for good." Ino said with a hateful sigh.

"I have only rarely met people more unpleasant then her." Sakura said simply causing Ino to laugh.

"It makes me sick when I think I used to look up to her. I thought she was cool. I wanted to be like her." Ino spoke with self loathing.

"Ino, were you ever really in love with Sasuke?" Sakura asked as if on a whim causing Ino to be taken aback.

The blonde opened her mouth to speak but found she didn't know the answer. She took a moment to think about it before saying gloomily, "I don't know… I'm sure at one point I was determined enough not to loose to you that every fiber of my being was convinced he was what I wanted."

"I see…" Sakura said with a faint smile.

It went silent again. Ino was shaking fro the tension. She knew Sakura must remember the things Azami had said, that Sakura must be laughing on the inside at what she perceived to be Ino's nature. Ino felt terrible, she didn't know what to do, she didn't know what to say.

Sakura apparently did have something to say, for it was her who once more spoke, asking a low tone, "Earlier you told me you thought I had left you again, what did you mean by that?"

"You're my best friend and you came this close to dying. I'm sure I was in such a panic, I doubt anything I said back then meant much of anything." Ino defended at once, choosing to hide behind an obvious lie.

"You were talking about how I betrayed our friendship." Sakura said with great seriousness.

"I don't blame you for anything, Sakura. It wasn't your fault. It's just how things are; friendship is one of those things that can just fall apart at any time." Ino said forthright, an uneasy feeling seeping over her.

"No it isn't, Ino. It's not supposed to just fall apart. Bonds like that are supposed to last. They're not supposed to be discarded to carelessly." Sakura shot back this time sounding downright intense.

"I know you had your reasons and I respect that, Sakura. You were really in love with him and I posed a threat to that love. I don't blame you, you can forget it." Ino said earnestly, offering a friendly smile.

"Don't you see it was never about that, Ino? I turned my back on you, I left you heartbroken, all because of my own stupid selfish reasons." Sakura said with a lingering apologetic quality.

"I seriously doubt your reasons were stupid or selfish, Sakura." Ino said in an even voice.

"I thought I had to prove myself. You protected me, you sheltered me, you set an example for me to follow. I figured to everyone else it must have looked like I was just following in your shadow. That's why I did it, Ino, with Sasuke I had an excuse, I pushed you away in hopes that I could become your equal." Sakura said with an undertone of regret.

"And there's nothing wrong with that, Sakura. It was a necessary move in you becoming the strong woman you did." Ino said insistently though with visible fragility about her face.

"No! It was a mistake, a terrible stupid mistake. You never once saw me as some sort of follower, you never once saw me as anything less than an equal. Our bond was never about that. The whole time, I never understood you, Ino, I never even came close to understanding. It wasn't Sasuke, it wasn't Azami who got between us, it was me, Ino, I'm the reason you've suffered so much. I just hope you can forgive me." Sakura said not restraining her tears.

"Alright I forgive you then! There is that what you want! Can we please just move on…?" Ino shouted frantically making it clear she didn't desire father discourse on the issue.

"No we can't just move on Ino! This is important to me… and to you too." Sakura said with incredible emotion causing Ino to break down.

"What do you want from me…, Sakura?" Ino asked while shaking with doubt.

"All I want is the real truth right from your lips." Sakura said simply giving a shake of her head.

The truth from her lips: that was easily accomplished. After all what point was there in running from the truth anymore when it was this obvious? She gave an inner sigh as she got to her feet and waked slowly to Sakura's side of the fire, this would mean Azami would be right about something else.

Without a word Ino had forced Sakura to the ground, joining her mouth to that of the other shortly thereafter. Ino pressed roughly against Sakura who had in her eyes a look of deep fear as her one time rival kissed her. Excitedly Ino outstretched her tongue and gave a lick at Sakura's soft pink lips. With much reluctance Sakura's lips parted to allow Ino's entry.

Sakura's mouth was so warm inside. Her body was warm as well as Ino felt the contact of Sakura's naked flesh on her own. Sakura's warmth felt to her every bit as comforting as that of the nearby camp fire. Slowly Ino raised her hands to Sakura's frame, her right going to stroke at the girl's beautiful pink hair while the left began to gently feel the curves of the girl's back.

Apparently something Ino had done had worked as Sakura was now kissing her back. Sakura's strong tongue clashing forcefully against Ino's in Sakura's mouth. When Ino withdrew for air she was happy to see Sakura hungry to see the kiss continue, their tongues never loosing contact under the cool night air

Ino pulled back to stare deeper into Sakura's eyes; she let a hand travel across the girl's chest as she offered the most loving smile she could muster.

Sakura spoke, unsteadily, "A-Are you sure t-this is what you want, I-Ino? Are you sure you d-don't want to talk about it m-more?"

Ino began to line hot kissed at Sakura's neck, resulting in the girl giving off soft moans. She said disjointedly between these kisses, "What is… there to be… sure of…? What is there… to talk about?"

Sakura didn't respond; Ino had moved downward and had begun to line one of Sakura's erected nipples with her wet tongue. She licked it feverishly before taking the breast in a hard suck. Sakura gave a hard moan as Ino let go of the suction and began to prod the sensitive nub with her tongue once more. Sakura's pleasure further mounted as Ino's hand began to massage the other breast, squeezing that second nipple between two fingers.

Ino's mouth moved temporarily to the other breast which was shown equal love, well Ino's hand moved slowly down Sakura's stomach. Going a little farther Ino felt with a mixture of deep excitement and deep nervousness at the outside of Sakura's sex. Finding it to be quite wet Ino's nervousness gave out and she began to excitedly rub the pink slit with two fingers causing Sakura to give off audible moans.

Sakura's mouth moved form its suck and followed closely the same path her hand had just took, lining kisses across Sakura's chest and stomach until Ino was positioned squarely between Sakura's legs. Ino smiled as Sakura, despite looking scared and doubtful in expression spread her legs wide open and beckoned Ino to her sex with her hand.

Every doubt Ino had ever had about herself seemed to for the moment disappear as Ino's tongue entered Sakura's soft pink slit for the first time. It was like this suddenly made it all clear. Sakura's taste was heavenly, the sexual click of her tongue hot against Sakura's sex, the sounds of the girl's moans as her tongue moved vigorously underneath Sakura's clit, it was all so amazing.

What was most amazing for Ino though was something different entirely. It was something more psychological than physical. She could feel herself becoming most deeply aroused by the fact that what she was doing was bringing Sakura great pleasure.

Ino grabbed Sakura by the hips and pulled her up a bit so that her tongue could delve deeper into the girl's juicy core. Sakura was kicking and screaming in pleasure as Ino's powerful tongue moved roughly against her inner walls. The with a smile Ino pulled out and began to pleasure Sakura with her fingers instead, sticking two deep inside Sakura.

Ino reveled in the feel of Sakura's warm moist insides as they enclosed around her fingers while they penetrated the girl. Sakura's moans were impossibly hot now, so much so that Ino could feel her own juices begin to well. The blonde began to focus her tongue hard on Sakura's clit while her fingers did the deeper work. Ino's tempo increased, Sakura's response followed, Ino's licks becam quicker her thrusts became harder, Sakura's moans became louder her breaths became deeper, and then with a glorious cry Sakura shook through an incredibly intense orgasm.

Ino didn't allow Sakura even a moment of recovery before joining her mouth to the girl's roughly once more. Sakura was in obvious alarm at the sudden hard rough kiss, but once she had adapted to it began to kiss back with incredible fervor. Ino wondered what Sakura must be thinking of as she tasted herself on her lips.

Apparently she didn't find it too unpleasant, for as Ino broke the kiss, Sakura was left panting, her tongue shyly licking at her lips. Ino eased herself upward, presenting her shapely breasts to the girl. Sakura's hand moved with hesitation to rest atop the left breast while Ino forced the right to the girl's mouth, elating as she felt Sakura's lips enclose around her pert nipple.

It was then that something seemed to snap in Sakura, suddenly Ino found herself pinned under the girl. Sakura continued to suck at Ino's chest, grinding the sensitive flesh of Ino's nipple between her teeth and tongue, causing Ino to give off subtle delighted moans. Ino felt a wave of anticipation as she began to wonder what Sakura might do next.

Sakura gave a hard squeeze to Ino's breast before allowing her tongue to traverse across the entirety of Ino's bust. Ino cooed lovingly as she felt the trail of saliva form and coat her her soft flesh. The wetness between Ino's legs was killing her now. She could no longer take the wait; slowly she spread her legs wide as if she was begging Sakura to move there next. She caught a faint smile on Sakura's lips as that girl spied the glistening moisture on either of her thighs.

Now squarely between Ino's legs, Sakura moved forward with much reluctance. She stared at Ino's fluid spilling sex for a few moments before extending a hand to touch it. Her hand recoiled at the sound of Ino's blissful moan when she touched the blonde's clit, but she replaced it quickly and began to rub the wet organ lovingly smiling at the sounds the other made in response.

Being touched by Sakura felt amazing. Ino wanted to feel more though. Apparently Sakura wasn't about to disappoint her, as the pink haired girl had begun lifting her upward, closer to her mouth.

With her Ino had went in without second thought and had just started immediately to ravage her one time best friend completely. As she felt Sakura's shy initial lick she realized this girl wasn't going to take her example. She supposed she should be happy this much. Experimenting with lesbianism for the first time was likely quite frightening to Sakura, she was lucky Sakura was willing to go this far.

Sakura's tongue gradually became more consistent in it's movements. Soon it seemed Sakura was actually getting into it. It became hard for Ino to think as she felt Sakura explore this new activity with a degree of ferocity, Ino felt relief that Sakura seemed to actually enjoy it now.

Sakura was all over the place now; her hands were moving swiftly across every inch of Ino's body she could reach: across the low of Ino's back, down across her rear, up back to Ino's breast down against her stomach, lingeringly at Ino's thighs, and likewise her tongue was doing much the same, traveling in and out of the tight pink slit, up hard against Ino's clit, hotly against the tender lips of her sex, and back inside to fill her with love.

It was too much, Ino felt as if every inch of her body was on fire. She couldn't take it any more; the pleasure was just so overwhelming. She needed release. And Sakura seemed obliged to give her just that, the pink haired kunoichi latching her mouth on hard to Ino's sex and darting her tongue across it with such ferocity that caused Ino to explode in a massive orgasm that sent a jet of sexual juices right into Sakura's mouth.

This time Ino didn't have to rush forward to kiss Sakura, Sakura had moved up and had begun to kiss her instead. Ino licked lustfully at the glistening shine across Sakura's lips that she knew to be her juices mixed with Sakura's saliva before joining Sakura's tongue to her own for a rough open tongue kiss.

It was then that Ino realized that she had just had a sexual release more gratifying then anything she thought possible, yet still she wasn't satisfied. She still wanted more of Sakura. Taking a glance at Sakura's sensual expression and then at her lightly glistening sex Ino concluded that Sakura likely wanted more as well

Still choosing not to communicate with words, Ino lifted one of Sakura's legs slightly allowing herself between them. Sakura gasped as she realized what Ino was about to try, but then seemed to smile as she perhaps realized she wanted to try it as well.

The distance between Ino's sex and that of Sakura closed slowly at first, and then, once they could feel each other's approaching warmth, rapidly, Ino couldn't help but let out a deep hot moan as she felt Sakura's sex begin to rub against her own. Ino soon was grinding herself vertically against Sakura's slit, while Sakura in tempo began to move in a horizontal fashion.

Ino was impressed to find Sakura's moans were as loud as hers. She was also impressed to see how incredibly goo it felt. The space where they were joined was so hot, so wet that the friction felt like it could burn her as she rubbed hard against Sakura. The warmth was just so unbelievable.

Either girl was now thrusting against the other with everything she had. Their tempo had become like lightning, both seemed to be moaning almost more often than breathing, Ino could feel her pleasure build inside her once more. Sakura was making noises just as loud as her so Ino figured her old rival must have been o the same page. Ino gave a hard thrust up Sakura. Sakura gave hard thrust across Ino. Then in a precise and heated moment, both girls thrust forth at the same time and at once both reached a hard climax.

They fell back, apart, panting desperately for air. Ino was first to speak, fragmented and between placed breaths, "Amazing... absolutely.. incredible... Sakura..."

Sakura seemed to recover quicker. In a fairly neutral tone she said, "I can't believe that actually happened."

"What do you mean by that, Sakura?" said Ino, sounding displeased with the response.

"Until tonight if anyone were to suggest to me the possibility that I might some day have sex with Ino Yamanaka I would have laughed square in their face." Sakura said while shaking her head in disbelief.

"What's that supposed to mean? It looked to me like you enjoyed it?" Ino said now sounding downright disappointed.

"I didn't say I didn't enjoy it, Ino. In fact I really did enjoy it, thet's why I need to know something." Sakura said in a serious fashion.

"And what would that be?" Ino said in a pout as if Sakura was killing the atmosphere.

"What do you want from me, Ino?" Sakura said showing deep vulnerability. Ino knew she had to choose her words carefully.

"I want a lot of things from you, Sakura. I want it to be like it was when we were friends, Sakura. I want you to admire me; I want to protect you. I want the reverse of that as well. I want to be able to admire you and I want to know you'll be there to protect me as well. I want nights like this to repeat endlessly in our lives. I want be by your side always and I want you ts stay with me forever. I love you Sakura. I really really love you." Ino said losing herself to emotion. Despite her trying to suppress it, she found herself crying half way through.

"Alright..." Sakura said, crying herself now.

"What do you mean 'alright'?" Ino asked cautiously not want ing to become even more of an emotional wreck.

"I'm yours, Ino." Sakura replied simply.

"So just like that...?" Ino started, she was shaking hopelessly.

"I have absolutely no reason to refuse your love Ino. I love you as well. I promise to try my hardest be everything you want of me, Ino." Sakura said in a romantic tone that mad Ino's heart race.

"Sakura." Ino sighed lovingly as she placed her new lover into a deep embrace. They kissed once more before falling asleep underneath the cool night sky.

A/N: How was that? Good chapter, I hope. I was nervous writing the essential Ino X Sakura love chapter. I think the romantics are spot on and I think the love making was decent enough. Hope you all agree. The next chapter will unfortunately be the last. Expect Azami to finally be confronted once and for all. See you then.

Oh and a little update on the next fic. So far the response has been great. It seems the most popular Bleach girls with you guys are Chizuru, Rukia, and Kukaku, all their pairing I listed have been suggested to me. Other pairings that seem popular are Rangiku X Orihime and Soi Fon X Momo (although it should be noted I'm not stupid enough to believe that like fifteen anonymous reviewers saying the exact same thing are actually different people). Pairings I'm kinda interested in that haven't been suggested by anyone are Rangiku X Momo, Rangiku X Nanao, Momo X Nemu, and Retsu X Isane. I got roughly a week before I have to set myself on one but it's still so hard deciding. There are so many stories I want to write it's just hard to decide what to do first.


	5. Bonds of Love

A/N: This is kinda sad. The final chapter. I really rather wish it didn't have to end, but I know for a fact I wouldn't be able to keep it going. Anyways, hope you all enjoy.

Disclaimer: CrazyNinjaPenguin is a friend to the little people but does not own Naruto.

The sun shone brightly in the sky, calming the peaceful village of Konoha below with its warmth. A young girl sat sighing hopelessly under a great, old tree. She was lost in thought, as she had been for a while.

"Here you are Ino. I was worried when you didn't come home today. What are you doing out here?" Said the voice of an approaching man, the young girl knew the voice as her father's.

"This was her favorite spot. We would always talk here." Ino replied calmly not afraid of how her father might scold her.

"You mean Azami, your cousin?" Inoichi asked in a solemn tone.

"Yeah. We used to talk here a lot. I thought, maybe if I waited here long enough she might come back to us." Ino said giving another healthy sigh.

"I'm sorry, Ino. Azami made her choice. There's nothing any of us can do." The man said in a deeply even tone as he sat beside his daughter.

"I know, dad. I know; it's just… I miss her. I want to talk to her, tell her about everything just like I used to. Everything's so hard and I just wish I had her here to help guide me through it all. Why'd she have to leave anyways?" Ino spoke with a mixture of sadness and frustration.

"You remember why she came to live with us in the first place, right Ino?" Inoichi asked in a somewhat melancholy way.

"Her parents died while they were on a mission, right?" Ino answered at once, this much she knew, but the rest of the story had always been a subject the family avoided.

"Yes, that much is true. But they died several years before she came here. Before coming here Azami lived with someone else." Inoichi spoke reluctantly, realizing his young daughter needed to hear this story.

"Who was that?" Ino asked, her eyes lighting up. She had always had immense curiosity about Azami's past and now she was finally beginning to hear it.

"Growing up Azami became close friends with a girl her age. Apparently they were inseparable. When her parents died, this girl begged her own parents to let Azami come live with them. She lived there for a while eventually graduating form the ninja academy. Her bond was so strong with this girl that it was decided that they would be placed on the same squad, even though it was not traditional for two kunoichi to be." Inoichi told Azami's story in a serious, level voice.

"Something horrible happened, didn't it?" Ino asked this but already knew the answer, she was young but smart enough to ser where this was leading.

"On one of their first B-ranked missions, Azami's team was ambushed by enemy shinobi. Azami's best friend, her jounin leader, and the other member of the squad didn't survive that fight; Azami of course did. When she returned to the village she was emotionally unstable, for months she called a hospital her home. Finally when she was released it was decided she would be sent to the closest relatives who would accept her, her mom and your own being sisters, that just happened to be us." The story came to a close with Inoichi giving a downed sigh.

"I see. Thanks for telling me, dad." Ino gave a faint smile.

"I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner. The report from the hospital said that the slightest mention of Azami's past, of her friend, of what had happened that day, was enough to cause a mental breakdown in her. We couldn't run the risk of telling you." The girl's father apologized.

"It's fine. It's sad, everything that happened to her, I just wish she was still here. That she had stayed with us. That she hadn't just left." Ino sniffled, tears welled in her eyes.

"I understand Ino. Azami became a part of all our lives. She is your cousin; you love her. It must not seem fair to you. But please Ino, try not to blame Azami for the choice she made." Inoichi put a hand at his daughter's shoulder in hopes of comforting her.

Ino's emotions calmed; she actually smiled. She got to her feet; turning to her father she said with determination, "I know, dad. I won't blame her. In fact I promise I'll try my hardest to fulfill her expectations of me; that way, if we ever meet again someday, she'll have a reason to be proud."

---

As Ino awoke, she couldn't help but wonder why the hell she was remembering this now. Maybe it was because in remembering the previous night, her first night spent reveling in Sakura's warmth, Ino realized the promise she made back then had become a laughable joke; irony would have her remember how much she had changed. It wasn't like it mattered much anyway. She supposed she was glad she did remember though; when next she confronted Azami she'd have something to goad that fucking hypocrite with before Ino slit her throat.

No, Ino was beyond caring about Azami. Hell, Ino wondered why she even thought about that bitch when the previous night had been so magical. The only thing she really should ever care about anymore was Sakura, her Sakura.

"Good morning, did you sleep well, my love." Sakura's sweet voice called out to Ino as that girl noticed she was beginning to wake. Ino sat up at once and offered a full smile before standing up and walking over to Sakura. She kissed her gently.

"I'll take that as a yes." Sakura said with a shy giggle between Ino's enthusiastic kisses. She slowly sat herself down on the grass and sat Ino next to her.

Ino couldn't stop smiling. She still couldn't believe it. She was stunned with her happiness knowing she could very well spend the rest of her life with Sakura. She did however upon thinking on all that had transpired come across a peculiar fact. When she had fallen asleep she had been completely naked, yet now she was fully clothed. Ino questioned, "When did you dress me, sexy?"

"Oh that? I'd say about an hour after you fell asleep." Sakura answered with a slight blush.

"Really? I thought you fell asleep at the same time I did." Ino said in doubt.

"I did at first. Apparently my sense of responsibility wasn't about to let it last though. It's not exactly safe for the two of us to fall asleep naked in the middle of the wilderness. That and leaving an open camp fire burning through the night is kinda a bad idea as well." Sakura said sarcastically, as if she couldn't believe she had almost let this all happen.

"So which did you prefer, putting my clothes on or taking them off?" Ino asked in a sensual way, offering a seductive smirk.

Sakura blushed a deep red. She spoke meekly, "Well… eh, heh heh, I guess… When I undressed you before I really wasn't thinking about you like that yet even if I did think your body was quite beautiful. Last night when I dressed you I was thinking about that stuff… and I tried not to but my hands would sort of linger in certain spots. You were fast asleep through it all though... The look on your face was so cute."

"So you groped my body while I slept, sexy girl? You know you could have just woken me up if you still wanted more fun." Ino laughed at how cute her lover was, it was intolerable. She knew she was happier now than she ever had been.

"Believe me I thought about it. I decided to let you sleep instead though. I know yesterday was a tough day for you." Sakura said softly, lovingly.

"Fuck that. After last night I'm confident in saying yesterday is the best day of my whole fucking life so far." Ino said with force, scoffing at Sakura's words.

"Oh. I see." Sakura said with a cute laugh.

Ino gave a sigh. She remembered how she had started last night's magical session by forcing Sakura to the ground without permission. She realized she probably needed to be serious for a moment, "Sakura, are you really okay with this? I mean with loving me, loving another woman. I don't want to put you through unnecessary pain."

"Ino, loving you isn't going to cause me any pain what so ever. I don't care what anyone says or what anyone thinks. I don't care if all my friends laugh at me or even if my parents disown me. You're worth anything I have to endure." Sakura said with mature romanticism that made Ino's heart beat fast.

"I'm happy to hear you say that. Part of me thought maybe this was too good to be true, that you were just doing this out of pity for me, or that maybe you felt like you were forced into it. I just wanted to make sure you were okay with it." Ino said in a forthright manner.

"How's this for proof that I actually love you every bit as much as you do me." Sakura said playfully before pushing Ino down against the grass, she joined her mouth to that of the blonde and forcefully kissed her.

They kissed passionately for a good moment. Sakura was being especially rough. She had forced her tongue inside her lover's eager mouth and had begun to lash it about ravishingly. All the while Sakura never broke eye contact with Ino; the blonde girl felt she could see into the other's soul.

Sakura pulled away and allowed Ino to sit up once more, Ino spoke while wiping Sakura's saliva from around her lips, "Alright. There's no questioning that. I guess I really am as lucky as I thought. Actually why don't we not stop there? How about we start the magic early, my hot hot lover, and take these clothes off one more time."

"It's certainly tempting, dear, but I'm afraid we have more pressing issues to attend to." Sakura said with a reluctant sigh. She seemed genuinely disappointed that she had to refuse Ino's offer.

"What's more important than our little sexy fun?" Ino asked in a sexual tone, unconvinced, she extended a hand and began to fondle Sakura's chest.

"Well, if you remember, we were sorta on a mission. You do realize that Choji and Kakashi-sensei are either dead, captured, or frantically looking for us right now." Ino said in a serious fashion, sorry she had to disappoint Ino's hopes.

"I have faith in our companions not to die, and I don't see Azami as the type to capture anybody. And I doubt they'd be looking for us, when they saw us fall to our deaths off a steep cliff." Ino argued as she began to massage Sakura's smooth thighs.

"Actually even if they suspect us to be dead, looking for us is still their priority. If you remember, I was the one who was chosen to hold the scroll we were supposed to deliver. They have to find us in order to complete the mission." Sakura explained, in a soft suppressed voice, Ino's constant touching had obviously gotten her quite aroused making it harder for her to concentrate.

"Oh yeah. So do you still have that thing?" Ino said, remembering for the first time her mission's details. She continued to caress Sakura, running a hand through the girl's beautiful pink hair.

"Of course. I stowed it away with my things. It got a little wet when we fell in the river, but I don't think any serious damage was done." Sakura replied at once.

"Still no rule says we have to go look of them. We can just wait here and have a little fun until they show." Ino said teasingly, she began to place hot kisses at Sakura's neck.

"Ino, we don't have any privacy. Do you really want to risk the possibility of Choji showing up to see the two of us having sex?" Sakura fought back moans as she said this in as steady a voice as she could muster.

Ino stopped touching Sakura at once and got to her feet. She said with a hard laugh, "Point taken. Let's get going then."

Sakura stared at Ino just blinking; she obviously hadn't been prepared for Ino to stop so abruptly. Reluctantly realizing Ino wasn't going to touch her further she gave a soft nod and jumped to her feet. She had a marked look of disappointment about her.

The lovers retraced their steps from the area where Sakura had setup camp back toward the riverbank. Sakura assumed their comrades would be searching the river upstream from where they had fallen. Sakura and Ino decided to follow the river. Along the way they laughed and smiled at each other while they continued to talk.

"So when did you come to the realization you liked me like this, Ino?" Sakura decided to ask on a whim, killing time as they walked.

"Last night." Ino replied in a blunt way.

"I seriously doubt that's the truth…" Sakura said quite skeptically.

"I've never been good at understanding myself. I've always been uncertain about everything... Certainly I was in love with you before last night, but I had no clue what it was I wanted from you until you confronted me about it directly." Ino explained in a reflective manner.

"I see. I was going to feel bad if you told me you had some huge crush on me for years and had always just been unable to say it because you were scared of what I'd think." Sakura said with a light laugh but real relief in her voice.

"Well, it's not like any of that really matters anymore. All my doubt and uncertainty is the past now. We're together now my love, and we'll stay that way from now on." Ino said in a strong voice.

"I'm just so sorry, Ino. It just makes me feel stupid. Even if you didn't know yet, you loved me with all your heart and I pushed you away. I, especially after what's happened now, can't believe how big of a mistake I made." Sakura beat herself up with some sad words.

"Not this again. I don't blame you for anything, Sakura. I mean if you hadn't pushed me away, If we would have stayed close friends, I probably then would have been forced into a situation like that one you were talking about. I'd be the closet lesbian with an insufferable crush on my best friend who I'm too scared to ever let know. As I see it, we had a few rough years but in the end we both got our happiness." Ino said in a warm way that made Sakura smile.

"Who's to say that I wouldn't have went and opened up to you?" Sakura asked teasingly.

"I doubt it. Not that I doubt your love for me or anything. For us to stay as close as we were I would have had to have backed off of Sasuke. He would have found you harder to ignore if you were the only one who pursued him so closely. Who knows maybe then you could have got him to stay. Maybe he'd be your lover now and not me." Ino postulated.

"I suppose you're right that there's no telling what might have happened had I not done what I did. I should just be happy it worked out so well for us in the end." Sakura said showing her content.

"Good, cause I know that if all that stuff had happened to me I'd probably have killed myself by now." Ino said quite jokingly despite the fact she was completely serious.

"In that case I'm glad I was so stupid back then. I'd rather have a hot lover than a dead best friend." Sakura replied in much the same manner, lightly though on a grave matter.

Ino allowed the conversation to quiet. She heard something in the distance. She turned to Sakura and that girl nodded at once. It was the sounds of battle they heard. The girls decided to run up the riverbank in the direction of the sound.

The first sight that graced Ino's eyes was that of Choji who had expanded his near entire body to gigantic proportions and was attempting to crush his opponent. Getting closer Ino saw that her teammate was fighting the Cloud ninja Akihiko. What's more, only shortly ahead of them Kakashi was engaged in battle; his opponents were the barrier master Teruo and the target of Ino's infinite rage, Azami.

Ino's comrades were too tied up in their fights to notice her arrival. When she knew she was in range she opted to make her presence heard, she addressed Kakashi, "Hey, Kakashi-sensei, would you mind if I took one of those two of your hands?"

All at once all eyes turned to face Ino and Sakura; Choji was first to speak, calling out enthusiastically, "You two are alive! That's too good to be true!"

Kakashi also had a beaming smile as he saw his young student and her friend were safe, he said with noticeable relief in his expression, "When we didn't find your bodies right away I figured this might be the case. I'm happy to see the two of you are safe."

"So, what happened on your end, sensei?" Sakura asked curiously, wanting to be filled in.

"After I saw you two fall I took my first opportunity to grab Choji and made a break for it. As soon as we had recovered fully from the battle we began to search for you in the river. And as it was a short time ago we crossed paths with the enemy once more." Kakashi explained in a straightforward manner.

The enemy ninja didn't give Ino and Sakura much more time to catch up with their comrades; Akihiko began assaulting Choji with his sword once more and Teruo and Kakashi began to stare one another down before resuming their fierce battle. Azami's eyes immediately went to Ino who walked toward her cousin with rage in her heart. Sakura followed.

"Well, well, Ino seems you didn't die after all. Quite frankly I'm glad; I never truly desired to hurt you. In fact I felt pretty bad pushing you off that cliff." Azami spoke in a tone that was somewhere between mocking and completely apathetic.

"You bitch! You've hurt Ino so much! For that I will never, ever forgive you!" Sakura said with unchecked fury, Ino had never seen the girl so mad; it made her feel proud.

"Oh my. I actually kinda figured my dear cousin might survive that little fall. You on the other hand, I had thought certain to die. Tell me, how is it you managed to pull through, girl?" Azami said not flinching at Sakura's shouts.

"I fought with everything I had to make sure Sakura lived!" Ino shouted the response; she was just as pissed off as your lover.

"Aww, how… completely fucking disgusting. Does this pathetic little girl honestly mean that much to you, kid?" Azami spoke in a highly ridiculing manner.

"Sakura means more than me than anything in this world. I would do anything to make sure she is safe." Ino said completely forthright, without a single moment of hesitation.

"Listen to that, Sakura. Look how totally in love with you my sick freak of a cousin is. Don't you find her disgusting little lesbian crush on you so completely nauseating?" Azami said in derision, giving off a short haughty laugh.

"No. Ino's love is beautiful. That's why I'm going to strive to love her every bit as much as she does me." Sakura fought back with indignation.

"What?! What the hell does that mean?! You two aren't seriously…? You didn't actually…? I was only…" Azami was completely stunned by this revelation and found it hard to articulate her words.

"After that little near-death experience you put us through me and Sakura finally decided to open up to each other. Last night we made the choice to share our hearts and our bodies with one another. You see, Azami, you can't tease me about my love for Sakura anymore, because it's stronger than any emotion you'll ever feel." Ino said with powerful emotion, never wavering in her delivery.

"Oh my fucking god! I can't believe it. I always thought you and me were the same, Ino. But in reality you're a fucking lesbo. You're some sick, disgusting freak of fucking nature. I can't believe someone like you is my cousin…" Azami cringed as she spoke in pure disgust.

"Now that's a sentiment we share, Azami. With every word you've ever said to me, you've tried to ruin my life. If that wasn't enough you hurt and attempted to kill the girl I love. For you I have nothing but the promise of death!" Ino yelled fiercely as she pulled two kunai from her ninja toll pouch and charged forth to battle her cousin.

Ino exploded into a furious combo attack with her kunai at speeds even she didn't know she could reach. Azami was staggering as she tried to keep up with incessant movements of Ino's steel knives. Even with her own speed and skill and her ANBU sword there was no way Azami could avoid all of her cousin's fury. It wasn't long before Azami suffered through her first cut.

Azami took a large backstop to recover herself, she spoke between placed breaths, "Not bad, kid. Your hatred seems to be a powerful weapon. Means I gotta stay on my toes. Still this is a losing fight for you, Ino. I know you and I know your clan. The Yamanaka don't have any real combat skills. You can't stand up to a ninja of my skill no matter how much you hate me."

"She's right, Ino. I'm better at physical combat than you are. I'll take care of her for you." Sakura suggested in a methodical tone.

"No you won't, Sakura. This is my fight, there ain't a fucking chance in hell I'm standing this one out. I'm not going to be satisfied until this pathetic little bitch has stopped breathing for good." Ino shot down her girlfriend's suggestion with a cruel laugh.

"In that case let's fight her together. I want to make her die as well." Sakura said callously, returned the cold laugh with her own as she closed in on Azami.

"Fine by me, love. That's what I had intended in the first place." Ino offered her lover a smile before jumping into battle once more.

Ino continued with her relentless quick combos, forcing Azami to be further disoriented. Then, finding her way to Azami's back, Sakura delivered a kick with crushing force. Azami flew several feet forward but was stopped by another kick from Ino. She fell to her knees.

Azami got back up before the next attack came. She rushed forward to slash Ino with her sword but the girl dodged. Azami made several mer desperate strikes; each time she cut through nothing but air. Another slash was made and this time Ino deflected it with her kunai. While Azami recoiled Ino launched her two kunai into her cousin's body causing her to reel in pain.

This time Azami had no opportunity to continue her offensive. Sakura had appeared behind her once more an had put her into a fierce hold. No escape was possible under Sakura's immense strength. Ino ran forward and began to punch Azami's stomach repeatedly.

Azami gave off agonizing cries as her cousin continued to barrage her stomach with fists. Soon she was hacking up blood and had all together stopped struggling against Sakura's grasp. She seemed too weak to even fight anymore.

"P-please... s-stop. Ino, please... I-I never meant to hurt you..." Azami began to speak in a rasped voice, between punches.

"How in the fucking hell can you possibly still say that to me?!" Ino shouted before kicking Azami hard out of Sakura's hold and onto the floor.

"You reminded me of myself... I didn't want to see you end up hurt like I did." Azami said as she writhed in pain on the floor.

"Oh what, is this about that fucking dead girlfriend of yours? Do you think I even care about your stupid past?" Ino shouted in high contempt.

"Oh? So you know something about it then? No one but me knows the whole story though. I wanted to help you Ino, believe me. I've never told anyone before but I'll tell you." Azami had fear in her eyes and clearly recognized her defeat.

"What point does your god damn story have to me when in a few seconds I'm going to slit your fucking throat?" Ino asked in a pointed way drawing closer to Azami with a kunai drawn.

"I don't care if you kill me, Ino. You probably deserve to. Just listen to me before that." Azami near pleaded.

"Fine, If that's your death wish. Just make it brief cause I honestly don't give a shit about whatever you're going to say." Ino said in a patronizing way, making sure to laugh hard in her cousin's pathetic face.

"Kotone was the best friend I ever had. It wasn't like you and Sakura though, neither of us had romance on the mind. The idea of being with a girl, even with Kotone still seems so foreign to me. When I met you I never imagined you were like that. If I had known I probably would have realized the path I was pushing you down would be impossible for you." Azami spoke in an almost apologetic way, she sounded quite broken.

"I get it already. Now hurry up and get your damn story out so I can fucking kill you!" Ino commanded feeling sick already.

"When I was a child I was shy and not really popular. I didn't have too many friends. Kotone was the most popular and beautiful girl in our whole class though and she decided one day to be my best friend. We quickly became very close. When we graduated to being full-fledged ninja we were assigned to the same team." Azami started her story in an even tone, it was clear she had tried to block out these memories for some time. She seemed to regard them with nostalgia. Ino just listened and rolled her eyes in contempt.

"The third member of our squad was a boy named Hideo. He was strong and noble, smart, focused, an excellent shinobi and an excellent man. I quickly developed a huge crush on him. It was overwhelming but I kept it hidden from everyone, especially from Kotone and Hideo himself. Then one day Kotone told me that she was starting to like Hideo herself. I was completely crushed." Azami continued to talk, speaking with reverence of her former love. Even as she paused, Ino didn't say anything, she didn't want to prolong Azami's ridiculous story any longer than necessary.

"I had a choice then. I had to choose between them. Between my friendship with Kotone and my chance at love with Hideo. In the end I chose the first option; Kotone was my best friend. She was the only close friend I ever had. I could suppress and eventually forget my feelings for Hideo; there was no getting over loosing Kotone. On top of that I knew that if I ever had to compete with Kotone I'd loose. She was better than me in every way I thought. I let her have Hideo without ever letting her know I was even interested." Azami seemed to curse herself under her breath.

"Then it happened. We were on a mission. We were ambushed. The enemy made itself known to us by killing our sensei. It was just the three of us against the enemy ninja squad. I was scared. I was terrified. Kotone could see how weak I was. She distracted the enemy and told me to run away. Like I always did, I listened to her. I didn't run very far. I realized I couldn't just leave her and Hideo behind. I went back. I was still too scared. I hid my presence and decided to just watch." Ino continued to act rudely impatient while Azami told her story.

"He protected her. Me and Kotone were just genin then but he was a chunin. He was stronger than us. He was determined to protect her. He fought hard, he killed one of the enemies and gravely injured another. I thought for awhile my brave, strong Hideko was actually going to take em all out by himself. Then he died. An enemy caught him off guard and thrust a sword straight through him. Kotone rushed forward to help her beloved only to find herself on the end of the same sword. They died, smiling, in each others arms. I had never been more jealous of Kotone than I was that day." Azami spoke with a desperate longing.

"Big fucking deal. Don't you see it's your own damn fault? If you had stood up and fought your ass off, maybe at lest one of them would be here today. Instead you ran away like some pussy little coward. You're pathetic Azami, absolutely fucking pathetic." Ino said coarsely, Azami quivered at her words.

"I know, Ino. I know. Believe me ever since that day I've hated myself. I've blamed myself for their deaths. I'm such a coward I couldn't even end it all myself though. I decided I wanted to just go somewhere to just die. I would have left Konoha immediately, I knew from the start I never had a chance of living a normal life with a normal family like yours, but then I met you. I saw myself in you. I thought I could help. I could guide you. I could show you how to avoid my pain, so that if you were ever in the same situation as me and Kotone you'd end up dieing happy and loved rather than living alone in complete misery. I never wanted to cause you pain."Azami said in a miserable voice, full of self loathing and doubt, and emotion that had been bottled up for far too long.

"You know what Azami?! If you had told me all this crap five years ago, no, if you had told me even two days ago, I'd have ran up to you and hugged you told you shit like 'I'm sorry,' 'thank you,' or "I'll be there for you.' But not after what you did yesterday. There are no fucking words you can say in this whole god damn universe that can make me forgive you for what you did to Sakura yesterday!" Ino said in choleric temper, Azami was visibly shaking.

"I still didn't understand. I saw that you hadn't followed my advice. I saw that you still had reverence for Sakura. I wanted to show you firsthand the truth that I had seen back then. I wanted to show you that this world isn't one filled with love and happiness. It's filled with nothing but sadness, regret, pain and misery. This world is a horrible, horrible place, Ino, I just wanted you to know."Azami pleaded miserably, beyond scared now.

Ino took several steps forward. She held her kunai tightly. She bent down to her knees on the ground so that her and Azami had perfect eye contact. Ino then spoke, a cruel unforgiving certainty in her voice, "If what you say is true, Azami, if this world really is a horrible place, it is only because it contains horrible people like you!" And with that Ino let her knife find it's way deep into her cousin's chest. Azami Ijiri looked to be relieved as she died.

Ino left her kunai inside Azami as she got back up and turned around. She caught sight of her beloved Sakura who had watched the scene just now. She was crying, she spoke, "I'm proud of you Ino. I'm not sure I could have done that."

"Just goes to show you, sexy girl, it doesn't matter if she's my own cousin, it doesn't matter if she gives me some damn sob story, any bitch foolish enough to make an attempt on the life of my girlfriend get a kunai through her fucking heart." Ino declared proudly. There was no regret or remorse in Ino's eyes as she looked at Azami's corpse.

"God Ino, I don't know whether to be touched... or scared." Sakura said with a nervous laugh.

"Just be mine and you won't have to worry about anything." Ino said in a strong voice.

"No that wouldn't be enough. I got to make sure that if some bitch ever tries to take your life I'm ready to stick a kunai through her fucking heart as well." Sakura said in a light way while continuing to laugh.

"Are you mocking me, Sakura?" Ino said shooting her lover a glare.

"Maybe. But it's just because you're so cute, love." Sakura smiled widely and gave another giggle as she said this.

"Anyways, we should probably go help the others." Ino said turning from Sakura in a pout. Sakura nodded and the two went to go aid Choji and Kakashi who still fought their fights.

Akihito didn't last long when face with Ino and Choji's impressive teamwork, failing to avoid being crushed under Choji's giant body while he was being distracted by the girl. Likewise with Sakura there to break through Teruo's barriers with her shear strength, Kakashi found himself on way to an easy win over the other cloud ninja. Soon the Konoha team had managed a complete victory over their adversaries. They began to talk as they continued on their mission.

"Oh Ino it was horrible! We thought for sure you two had died. You don't know how awesome it is to see you safe and sound." Choji said once again, excitement in his voice.

"Come on, Choji. What's that about? You think I'm so worthless I couldn't even survive a fall like that? Have a little faith in me." Ino said acting just a tad full of herself.

"Hmm, maybe everyone has been underestimating you, Ino, if you're able to survive a fall like that and protect Sakura who has been completely immobilized as well, maybe you aren't getting the credit you deserve as a ninja." Kakashi spoke methodically.

"Don't give her credit sensei. I'm sure it was all just excellent luck on her part that it went so well." Sakura said with an antagonizing laugh that got another glare from Ino.

"It wasn't luck and you know it Sakura. I fight my damnedest to protect the ones I care about most." Ino said in a haughty fashion.

"So you'd fight just as hard to protect me, right?" Choji asked searchingly.

"Uh, no. You don't mean half as much to me as Sakura does." Ino said without hesitation.

"And why the hell's that? We're all friends, right?" Choji asked with a raised tone.

"A number of reasons Choji: I've known her longer, I wouldn't have ever talked to you if we weren't on the same team, and most importantly Sakura's a lot more to me than just a friend." Ino declared in a pointed way.

Choji gave a puzzled expression as if he thought she couldn't be meaning what he thought she did, he said with a shrug,"Yeah I've heard a lot about how close you two were. You should really watch saying stuff like that though Ino, some people might get the wrong impression."

"What do you mean 'the wrong impression?' I was pretty sure what I said was pretty straight forward..." Ino said with a devious look.

"You know, saying she's 'more than just a friend' some people might think you mean you're actually in love with her or something." Choji said with a noted decline in comfort level.

"I am. I do love Sakura. As of last night we're officially a couple." Ino said with a wicked smile. Sakura blushed, Choji was speechless, Kakashi looked as if he wanted to get the hell away from this conversation.

"Are you serious?!" Choji exclaimed in disbelief.

Sakura sighed, she said in a light warm tone, "Yeah, she's serious. And after the devotion she showed me yesterday and again today I'd be crazy to reject her. Besides she won me over in a few other important ways last night as well."

"I think I'm going to run ahead of the group for awhile if you don't mind." said Kakashi as he ran ahead, obviously not wanting to hear about his young student's adverse romantic life. Sakura and Ino laughed.

"Looks like that's the village on the horizon. Seems this mission will soon be history." Ino said contently as she spied the remote ninja village to which they had been headed on the horizon.

"Yup. I for one can't wait until we get there. That is as long as we get a private room together." Sakura said playfully. Ino stopped her mid run and the two began to kiss. Choji decided to go and catch up to Kakashi and allow just the girls to follow behind.

As she kissed Sakura tenderly Ino thought back on her cousin Azami's distant advice to her. Azmai got the gender wrong but part of her words rang true, a lover would be something more useful to Ino than a friend.

A/N: That's it. I really love how this fic turned out. Sure the fighting was lame, and Azami's story was a little dry but Ino's intensity in this chapter just made it all special. It was a fun write. I particularly like Azami's character in this fic. I tried to make her an almost redeemable character in those final scenes, only to have her be completely denied a shred of forgiveness. (How many of you thought for a moment when Azami started telling her story that Ino'd end up sparing her?). Azami had to die. This fic just wouldn't have seemed just were she to live. Anyways tell em your views. Oh yeah, and my next fc should be up some times next week. I STILL do not know what it is going to be. And, I wasn't going to mention it but there's a little poll on my profile about that, vote if you care.


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